TAKE it for what it’s worth, but you might want to know that Len Barrie, pres ident of the Lightning, has been telling people in the industry that Mats Sundin will be playing for Tampa Bay when and if No. 13 resumes his career.

Yeah, right. As if.

Raise your hand if you’re surprised that Sundin’s North American agent, JP Barry, would tell a Montreal media outlet that the center remains intrigued with the possibility of playing for the Canadiens.

Better idea. Raise your hand if you’re surprised by anything Barry might say in order to bump up the bidding as Sundin continues to ponder his future while accepting meetings in California with GMs interesting in signing him, with a decision now supposed to be coming by Christmas.

*

It’s not true, as has been reported, that the Rangers refused to send Alexei Cherepanov’s medical records to the Russian authorities in conjunction with the investigation into the 19-year-old’s death. All records were sent as soon as Cherepanov’s father signed the necessarily documents granting the Rangers legal permission to do so.

*

Wonder how the NHL’s general managers feel about Brian Burke announcing his candidacy for one of their jobs – and by Thanksgiving, no less! – after being granted accelerated free agency two weeks ago by Sixth Avenue?

If the Ducks’ ownership wished to release Burke from his contract that originally ran through the season, that was mighty magnanimous of them, but it doesn’t mean Gary Bettman or the NHL was obligated to allow Burke to seek employment at this time.

Indeed, the NHL does not give clubs the authority to grant impending free agents their independence in advance of July 1, so why should the league have given permission to Anaheim to do it for Burke, who has been involved in all matters of confidential dealings this season on behalf of the Ducks?

*

Even if NHL revenues decline by five-percent this season, clearly a possibility given the combination of a grim economic forecast and a declining Canadian dollar, next season’s cap won’t take a hit if the NHLPA builds its five-percent bump into the calculation.

Yes, it’s true that doing so would expose the players to a greater risk of escrow loss, but a higher cap not only makes more money available for all players, its gives free agents a greater number of options, and it gives successful teams a greater opportunity to remain intact.

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly has affirmed to Slap Shots that the six Canadian clubs have been generating 27 percent of NHL revenue, not a number terribly out of whack for 33-percent of the population. That ratio may or may not remain the same, but the numbers will take a hit.

“Last year we grew our revenues by 11-12 percent, but 3-4 percent of that was due to changes in the value of the currency,” Daly wrote in an e-mail correspondence. “This year, it appears the currency will impact total [hockey-related] revenue in the opposite direction and will understate whatever ‘real’ revenue growth we are able to generate.

“We care about ‘real’ revenue growth, not results that are created by currency value – which is a factor entirely beyond our control.”

*

There was this time that we chided outgoing Boston GM Mike O’Connell for leaving a lump of coal in his successor’s stocking by signing then-prospective free agent Tim Thomas to a long-term deal. We seem to have gotten that one wrong.

In the aftermath of dismissing Barry Melrose as coach, Tampa Bay GM Brian Lawton said the organization was intent on finding out which players truly wanted to remain with the Lightning. We guess that test didn’t apply over the summer to Dan Boyle.

Finally, the way Dan Marouelli was emphatically albeit mistakenly signaling a shootout goal for Boston’s Patrice Bergeron against Henrik Lundqvist last Saturday night before the call was reversed upon video review, you get the feeling he’ll be refereeing the Super Bowl for the NFL.